White as snow

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There’s something about fresh snow that’s sort of comforting, although it also seems a little dangerous at the same time.  Yes, it is cold, and it can be uncomfortable physically, and heaven knows I’m not all that crazy about shoveling it; in spite of all that there is a comfort in seeing it.

It does have a nice way of covering the brown of winter… not to mention the left-over Fall leaves, and it all looks so very clean.

The clean look of fresh snow is more than just in covering up the ground with a fresh white covering, it is representative of something much more profound… and a little scary.

Fresh white snow is mentioned several times in the Bible in connection with the righteousness of God and the purity of His Word, and I don’t know about you, but to me there is something slightly intimidating about that, since I am so acutely aware of the fact that I just can’t measure up to His standard.

The comfort, however, is greater than the danger, for in Christ we too can be made to “measure up”.  Not, of course, by our own work but instead by His.

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

Isaiah 1:18

Our sinfulness and imperfection, our unholy thoughts and motivations, our inadequacies and unfaithfulness are made white as snow by the blood of Jesus Christ.  It doesn’t matter than I am my own worst critic, it doesn’t matter than somebody might not like me or that I might stumble and fail.  What matters is that our Lord has taken care of all of that ‘stuff’ and in God’s sight, by His great mercy and love, we are as white as snow in His sight by and through Jesus Christ.

Since Jesus has done this for us, doesn’t it motivate you to redouble your efforts to live a life pleasing in His sight?

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Is it Urgent… or actually important?

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“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”

1 Peter 1:3

Here is the point of beginning for a fresh start in life: Praise be to God!

Just think of all of the riches you have in Christ; a new life, a living hope and a better way.  What else could anybody ask for?  Any reasonable person who honestly thinks about it would likely conclude that this is about as good as life can be…

But… we all have our problems, our challenges, our past and distractions galore.  We all have plenty of times when we need to give our attention to the urgent, rather than to give attention to that which is truly important.  Of course, in management, this is considered a great time waster!  We deal with the things that come up and demand attention, and as a result we have little time or energy left to deal with matters that are important for more than a few minutes or hours… and we suffer in the long run.

What is really important in life is our relationship with Christ; we need to develop the ability to separate that from the chaos of the day so that we can keep it in focus.  Of course, this will also make dealing with all of the other things a lot easier.

Let’s stay focused on the important rather than things which seem urgent, but not really as crucial as they seem at first: Everything will turn out better if we do!

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To be great…

… is to be humble:

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“The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Matthew 23:11-12

We usually don’t think of the greatest in our midst as being our servants, but this is what

Jesus taught:

Culture teaches otherwise…

In this passage, Jesus was teaching the crowd that they should follow the lead of their religious leaders and to do whatever the leaders said, but to never do as their leaders did.  This was because their leaders taught all of the right things, but lived entirely differently.  They loved their lofty positions and all of the perks that came along with them.

Following Jesus is not about perks.

Following Jesus means that we are the humble servants of others to promote God’s purpose.  Following Jesus means that we are willing to sacrifice for His cause; to give our all and even to suffer for His name’s sake.  If we are into self-satisfaction and self-actualization, we are not following Jesus.

Following Jesus means that we get over ourselves.

Following Jesus means that it is all about Him. In this truth, the Truth will set us free.

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Sunday Reflection: December 28, 2025

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The Way Ahead

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As we begin a new year, our life’s road stretches out before us.  Look ahead; what do you see?

Like the picture you might see cold snow and ice for a piece, and then the thaw of spring out ahead…

Maybe you are going through hard times right now; many people are.  Maybe things are going well… even many of these are worried about the future in such uncertain times.  There are nasty economic rumblings out there; in some places there are people in the streets crying out for change.  In some parts of this world there is unrest; unease everywhere.

Are you walking down your life’s road all alone?

Maybe you are going along with your family and your spouse as a strong unit; if so that’s a very good thing. If you falter, maybe they can carry you a ways…

What if you all falter… then what?

Just to be on the safe side, I like to take Jesus along on my life’s road: He can handle things that I can’t quite seem to manage on my own.  He can help me when I stumble, He can carry me if necessary; in fact, He can carry the whole family if we need it. We are never alone out in the wilderness to freeze, or in the desert to die of thirst, for He fills our needs.  We are never overpowered by strangers, for He is with us.

Yes, taking Jesus along life’s road is a good idea, don’t you think?

Look!  Just a little farther and the sun is shining!

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Good Friends, Good Cheer

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A friend like the one above gives love unconditionally, this little guy loves to play and have fun, doesn’t hold a grudge and is always happy to see you.  Everybody ought to have a friend like that!

Of course, human friends require a little more careful care and feeding.

A number of years ago, I was involved in a church Christmas program. After it was all done, I wrote the following in a post…

We’ve been practicing for weeks now, and we all seem to be together several days a week in one way or another.  I’ve really had the opportunity to get to know several people better, and to appreciate older friends even better; in short, this program has already been quite a blessing.

You see, I’ve found that a group of Christians getting together to work for the purpose of glorifying God and proclaiming the good news of the birth of our Lord is quite a team-building exercise.  Oh, there are a few rough moments when something just isn’t quite going according to plan, but through the entire process, we are all being built into the Body of Christ. More than that, there seems to be much more of a sense of oneness than ever before, and as far as I can see, people are glad to see one another.  It is quite interesting to see how people act when they are working together to achieve the purposes for which we were all created; to give glory to God and to spread the good news to others.

Hey gang, maybe we should do more of this!

May this Christmas be a time of joy, fellowship and love. May it be a blessing for each of us, and may it be a time when we re-dedicate ourselves to His service.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

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Photo of the Week: December 24, 2025

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A Christmas Wish

-LR

I would like to take just a moment today to wish each and every one of you the best Christmas ever. May all of the joys and blessings of Christmas be yours all the year long, and may your loved ones be blessed as well.

I would also like to say thank you to every one of you who follow this blog, who drop by and visit from time-to-time, as well as those who comment, ‘like’ and repost; your encouragement means a great deal, and helps me to carry on, even on those days when it feels too much like work. We are serving an awesome God, and together I hope that He will do a mighty work here… even if none of us realize it at the time. May His love dwell in your lives and be seen by all of those around you.

A Merry Christmas to one and all

Don

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My Favorite Christmas Eve…Ever!

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I was 10 years old on December 24, 1968: Christmas Eve!

I was sure excited, as any self-respecting 10-year-old would be on Christmas Eve, but that year was to be different for me.  My family didn’t watch TV on Christmas Eve; my Mom wouldn’t hear of it, nor would my older sister, but that year, my Dad “pulled rank” and turned our set on, and you couldn’t have pried me away from it if you wanted to.

My Dad was an engineer who had worked on the Apollo Program, and on that historic day, the first manned spacecraft to reach lunar orbit had begun to orbit the Moon.  The crew would speak to the nation that Christmas Eve from Apollo 8, more than a quarter million miles from Earth.

The crew and TV commentators did their job of reporting on this great scientific achievement, and I would have been quite satisfied at that, but Mission Commander Frank Borman took things just a little beyond the news at the end of the broadcast when he began to read these words:

 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

He continued reading for a little longer before signing off, and though I don’t recall just how far he got into Genesis chapter one that night, I do recall how his reading of it made me think…

For a 10-year-old, the impact of an astronaut hero reading the Bible on Christmas Eve from lunar orbit is something of a mind-blower.  I remember laying awake in my bed that night, but I was no longer dreaming of presents around the tree, I was thinking about space, God, Creation and the baby in the manger.

Wow…

In the days that followed, I started reading Genesis secretly; I didn’t want anybody commenting about my new reading material just yet; this was my quest to understand the meaning of things, a quest I still pursue.  To know the God who created the universe, to know His Son who came to this Earth for the forgiveness of my many sins and to serve His purpose…

Wow…

There just isn’t much more to be said, is there?

Wow!

It still blows my mind.

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A Special Christmas Gift

Most people associate Christmas with happy memories, good cheer, joy, love, peace and warmth.  Yet for many, the season can be very difficult.  Many who are experiencing financial hardship find that the celebration is more than they can handle; their children don’t get gifts and a sense of dread pervades the season.  Others may find themselves far from home and loved ones, while others may be grief-stricken because of the loss of a loved one during the past year; there are many scenarios for this kind of sadness and grief during the holidays as we all know.

I wish I could just post a link to an “easy button” to solve these kinds of issues, but there isn’t one that I know of.

I wonder if there is something that we, as Christians can do to ease the pain or loneliness of those around us…

Can’t we just reach out to people in this kind of situation and invite them into our homes, or to take them a bundle of Christmas cheer in some form or fashion?  Yes, I think we could…  What better time to show the love of the Christ-child in action than at this time of year?  When you really think about it, the Christmas season is a fantastic season to demonstrate Christ’s love by putting others ahead of ourselves.

I can’t really prove it, but I believe that Jesus would approve of this!

Let’s all go out and look for situations to share His love this Christmas.

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